Once again, this show keeps pushing Noe to the side in favor of Hiromi. I truly cannot see this show any other way than through Noe’s character. Considering that she is the only character for which time was devoted explaining her background story it is understandable to an extent. That coupled with the fact that it is her story that the title of the show alludes.

Previously it is made certain that Noe had realized the extent of Shinichiro’s feelings for Hiromi. Shinichiro, for his part, has played the role of ambivalent love interest. I suppose we will see some major story progression now that we have moved into the part of the story where literally all of the main female characters not only are in love with the male lead openly but also are free of prior constrains limiting their affections.

I’ve stated in the past that one of the best ways to develop a character, in my eyes, is to put them through hardships. To witness a character’s progression as they endure emotional suffering is an effective way to convey their experience. How many of us can identify with a heart broken Japanese school girl as much as we can simply identify with being heart broken?

Noe’s tears:

Noe contemplates loss.

Noe sees your soul.

Noe left behind.

We see through you, Noe.

Noe caught you…

Noe is angry…

Noe is direct and to-the-point…she also seems to think you’re hungry.

Epic battle!

Noe is confused and frustrated. Your indecisiveness confuses Noe.

The majority of the show is dedicated to the developing relationship between Noe and Shinichiro. We get a lot of plot movement and character development throughout the cast, which was a nice bonus. That’s not to say that the previous episodes didn’t move the story along.

I think I was waiting for Shinichiro to discover Noe. I was surprised it took so long. Seriously, that girl gave him chicken feed. Girls don’t go around giving chicken feed to just any random guy, ‘ya know.

Unfortunately, we cannot determine whether vampire equals boobies or panties. I tried doing some factoring, but only got as far as “rosario + vampire = 2 * boob + panties,” which was none too enlightening. One must be careful to realize that panties is one of those variables that seems to be plural when, in fact, it can be singular. We don’t know if that should be more than one “panties.”

Ostensibly, we are compelled to assume panties is greater than 1. After all, it would be a little disturbing if it were only a single pair.

New equation:

vampire = 2 * boob + n * panties - rosario
where n = [0, infinity)

What does this mean? Absolutely nothing.

Also, why is it called a pair of panties? I know it’s an old question, but I haven’t ever received a satisfactory answer to it. It’s not like pants. Pants have two legs that lend themselves to being called a pair. As far as I can tell panties are composed of a single unit.

I think what we have here is what linguists would call “semantic change.” Doesn’t it seem like the meanings of “pant” and “panties” are switched? I think a very long time ago some guy/girl with dyslexia kept getting the words mixed up and others simply stopped correcting the mistake because it was tiring. They probably just took what they were saying in context. Over time people started to use the same meanings for those two words.

Yeah, that’s the way it happened…

Extra credit:

• Blood+ = ?
• infinite Ryvius = ?
• 3×3 eyes = ?
• Samurai X = ?

These are the only ones I could think of at the moment. BTW, the 3×3 eyes OVA’s are pretty good.

The last episode of the season was the best yet. They went all out with this one. It’s pure Hayate no Gotoku~ishness straight through to the end.

An OCD thing:

Every time I see one of those still image pans in an anime I have an urge to put it back together. At any rate, I put these two images back together after watching the show. Keep in mind that the quality of the image is only as good as the source, which wasn’t too bad.

Click on the images for the larger version.

Episode 37 finds Nagi discovering that Hayate prefers “normal” girls. In a bold move to be more appealing to her combat butler Nagi ventures off to discover how to master being normal.

Hilarity ensues.

Yeah, normal people, why do you always have to flaunt your normalcy? You and your, “Ohh, look at me. I’m so normal. Neh-neh-neh.”

I’ve written about being normal before. Although, overall that post was mostly a commentary on otaku collection habits.

To quote myself:

It is the relativity of the social construct that is normalcy that makes using it as a measure of worth a double-edged sword. These ideas have lead to disputes among social groups, friends, family, neighbors, religions, nations, and pretty much every division humanity has placed unto itself. Our disputes, many times, are grounded in divergent ideals. Your normal is not someone else’s normal.

Everyone has to stop and wonder about their place in the world, if only for a scant few seconds. For many it is a simple thought game, but for others it defines their beings. Some of us may question our goals and the path that we have taken. Where am I going? What will I do when I get there? These are questions raised without answers given most of the time.

I’m not one to say that everyone is the same because there are major differences between peoples. The fact still remains that one cannot deny people are largely more alike than they are different. We may have differing cultural identities, but we are all the same species. That alone makes all of us more similar than different.

That is unless one where to take themselves as some type of evolutionary disparity. This would more likely make you insane that evolved. Oddly, that would make you different or not normal from the perspective of the sane. Yet, you would be complete normal with regard to the insane.

Humans exist within a world of dualities. We are alike and different at the same time. It’s all a matter of perspective. As a matter of worth it seems that most people tend to aim for their idea of normal rather than super-normal or some exceedingly grand ideal.

So, next time some one implies that you are “normal,” just say damn-straight!

-

edit: oops, misspelled “introspection” in the title originally. Although, you have to admit that “instrospection” sounds like a pretty cool word.